United States v. Rawlins

770 F. Supp. 571, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9753, 1991 WL 132378
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJuly 3, 1991
DocketCrim. No. 91-92-FR
StatusPublished

This text of 770 F. Supp. 571 (United States v. Rawlins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Rawlins, 770 F. Supp. 571, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9753, 1991 WL 132378 (D. Or. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

FRYE, District Judge:

The matters before the court are the motions of defendants, Gerald Stephen Rawlins and Peter Reed Rawlins:

1) for further discovery in support of their motions to dismiss the indictment on the grounds of selective prosecution or vindictive prosecution;

2) to dismiss Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment for failure to state an offense on the grounds that an asset held by a subsidiary of a savings and loan association as a passive investment is not, as a matter of law, “something of value belonging to” or “pledged and entrusted to the care of” a savings and loan association under 18 U.S.C. § 657;

3) to dismiss Counts 1, 2 and 4 of the indictment for failure to state an offense on the grounds that the indictment fails to allege facts sufficient to establish that at the times alleged the defendants were “connected in any capacity with” Citizens Savings and Loan Association as required by 18 U.S.C. §§ 657 and 1006;

4) to dismiss Count 1 and the related parts of Count 2 of the indictment on the grounds that the allegation of the sale of an asset without more is insufficient, as a matter of law, to constitute a “misapplication of a thing of value” under 18 U.S.C. § 657;

[573]*5735) to dismiss Counts 1, 3 and 5 of the indictment for failure to state an offense on the grounds that, at all times material to the indictment, 18 U.S.C. § 1344 did not make it a crime to “defraud” a federally chartered financial institution of its “intangible right” to the “honest services” of its officers, directors or agents;

6) to dismiss Counts 1, 3 and 5 of the indictment on the grounds that they violate the prohibition against ex post facto laws set forth in Article I, § 9 of the United States Constitution;

7) to dismiss Counts 1, 3 and 5 of the indictment for failure to state an offense on the grounds that they do not allege facts sufficient to state either a conspiracy or a substantive violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344 because the Federal Home Loan Bank Board is not a party protected under that statute; and

8) to dismiss Count 1 of the indictment on the grounds that the elements of other substantive offenses are not properly alleged therein.

BACKGROUND

The indictment alleges, in relevant part:

Gerald Rawlins was a stockholder and a director of Citizens Savings and Loan Association (Citizens Savings) and the director of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Citizens Realty Investment Group (CRIG) and Ash Creek Development Corporation (Ash Creek). At various times, Gerald Rawlins served as vice chairman of the board of Citizens Savings, as well as the president and chairman of the board of CRIG and the president of Ash Creek.

Apart from his involvement with Citizens Savings, Gerald Rawlins influenced the management of two limited partnerships, Tri-Vest Real Estate Oregon, Ltd. (TVRE) and Tri-Vest 72 (TV72). Peter Rawlins is the son of Gerald Rawlins, and he served as assistant to the president of CRIG and influenced the management of TVRE and TV72.

Between 1982 and 1985, Gerald Rawlins was instrumental in causing Citizens Savings to invest approximately $721,500 to purchase majority control and approximate^ ly 80% of the limited partnership units of TVRE. The units of TVRE were held by Citizens Savings as an asset of its wholly owned subsidiary, Ash Creek. During the same period, Citizens Savings advanced approximately $221,000 in unsecured loans to TVRE. TVRE never repaid these loans.

Gerald Rawlins periodically reported to Citizens Savings on the status of its investments in TVRE, including the status of certain bonds issued by Citizens Mortgage Investment Trust (CMIT), an entity unrelated to Citizens Savings, and purchased by TVRE. TVRE sold the bonds of CMIT on or about August 31, 1984 and deposited the proceeds of $235,000 in a money market account in the name of TVRE. During March of 1985, TVRE received approximately $94,000 in cash for participation in a property exchange with Citizens Savings and other parties, and this money was deposited in the same account. Gerald Rawlins used these funds to satisfy personal obligations.

In the indictment, the government charges Gerald Rawlins and Peter Rawlins with the crime of conspiracy and the following four substantive crimes: 1) misapplication of something of value in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 657; 2) two counts of devising a scheme to defraud Citizens Savings and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (the Bank Board) and executing that scheme in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344; and 3) participating in a fraudulent stock transaction in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1006.

1. The motions of defendants for further discovery in support of their claims that the indictment should be dismissed on the grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution

The government has broad discretion in deciding whom to prosecute. Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 607, 105 S.Ct. 1524, 1530, 84 L.Ed.2d 547 (1985). In order to establish a claim for selective prosecution, a defendant must demonstrate that 1) others similarly situated to him have not been prosecuted; and 2) the decision of the government to prosecute him was based on [574]*574an impermissible standard, such as race, religion, political beliefs or the exercise of a right protected by the United States Constitution. Id.', United States v. Aguilar, 883 F.2d 662 (9th Cir.1989). In order to obtain discovery in support of a claim for selective or vindictive prosecution, a defendant must establish facts sufficient to take the question past the frivolous and raise a reasonable doubt as to the purpose of the prosecutor. United States v. Gordon, 817 F.2d 1538, 1540 (11th Cir.1987).

Defendants have submitted the following facts in support of their claims of selective prosecution:

At all relevant times, Gerald Rawlins was a member of the board of directors of Citizens Savings. In 1984, the Bank Board became hostile toward Gerald Rawlins because of his involvement with Citizens Savings. Before April 17, 1985, Gerald Rawlins tendered his resignation to the board of directors of Citizens Savings. On April 17, 1985, the Bank Board called the board of directors of Citizens Savings to Seattle, Washington to attend a meeting.

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Related

Wayte v. United States
470 U.S. 598 (Supreme Court, 1985)
McNally v. United States
483 U.S. 350 (Supreme Court, 1987)
United States v. Robert Keith
605 F.2d 462 (Ninth Circuit, 1979)
United States v. Randolph L. Fulton
640 F.2d 1104 (Ninth Circuit, 1981)
United States v. C. Wayne Prater
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United States v. Spiver Whitney Gordon
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United States v. Thomas E. Wolf
820 F.2d 1499 (Ninth Circuit, 1987)
United States v. Joseph Soriano Rickey Santos
880 F.2d 192 (Ninth Circuit, 1989)
United States v. Butler
600 F. Supp. 580 (D. Oregon, 1984)
United States v. Unruh
855 F.2d 1363 (Ninth Circuit, 1987)
United States v. Aguilar
883 F.2d 662 (Ninth Circuit, 1989)
Quinn v. Kansas Power & Light Co.
435 U.S. 944 (Supreme Court, 1978)

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Bluebook (online)
770 F. Supp. 571, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9753, 1991 WL 132378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rawlins-ord-1991.